What is in the Can?
One afternoon, while finishing up your shift as the stock manager at Circus Supermarket, the store manager tells you that he desperately needs some help with an inventory problem. In the back of the store, he shows you an unmarked, unopened metal can and explains that the owners of the store are threatening to fire him and all his staff if they cannot keep track of the items that they sell. There are no inventory records to trace the origin of the can, so he asks you, the stock manager, to help him figure out what is inside.
There is one catch. He does not want to open the can, just in case there is something expensive inside. Instead, you as the stock manager will ask questions about the can from the store manager; your instructor.
- Ask at least two questions:
- You should first ask at least two questions about the can itself. Your instructor will answer all of the questions you have about the can.
- Be sure to read the questions posed by your classmates to avoid asking the same questions. This will help further expand the investigation with new questions.
- You can also request that the store manager do things to the can and then report back with the results. For example, if you would like to ask, "What sounds do you hear when you shake the can?" that can count as one of your questions.
- Create your hypothesis.
- After you have asked at leasttwo questions of your own and have collected additional evidence based on the questions your classmates have provided, you should then develop and post a specific, testable hypothesis about what is in the can.
- Your hypothesis should include: a) what you believe is in the can, and b) any supporting evidence you collected from the Discussion that led you to that hypothesis.